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Defence in the United Kingdom

I, too, had a brief career in the Territorial Army, serving from 1984 to 1993 in the Oxford university Officer Training Corps, the Honourable Artillery Company and other regiments. My constituents would not want this debate to pass without my making a small contribution to emphasise their concern about the degree of overstretch in the British armed forces, which has reached intolerable levels and is placing an intolerable strain on those who serve our country. I pay tribute to the local cadet forces in my constituency, who do a marvellous job training young people in the ways of the Army, Navy and Air Force. At the other end of the scale, I pay tribute to those former soldiers, sailors and airmen who now serve their local communities through the Royal British Legion, the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association and other organisations. We currently face a global threat that we have never faced before, and I find it incredible that numbers are at their lowest ever level in the TA’s 98-year history. The TA represents the most cost-effective way to rebuild our armed forces, because by and large one does not need to house and accommodate those who serve in the TA. One also gets far more bang for one’s buck with the TA, because most of the time that members spend training with the TA is spent on exercise. Rather than having the lowest ever numbers in the TA, the Government should introduce proposals to secure the greatest ever numbers in the TA, because it would be the most cost-effective way to deliver the defence needs of our nation. The proudest moment of my so far brief time as a Member of this House was to lay wreaths on behalf of local residents at the Remembrance day services in Desborough, Rothwell and Kettering last weekend. It was a great honour and brought home to me the fact that all the names of those local residents who, sadly, are listed on those war memorials are evidence that if this House gets its defence policy wrong, far too many of our citizens end up paying the ultimate price.